Moleskine ® - Legendary notebook - Torino 2008 in your Moleskine's City Notebook

Everybody knows that when a city receives an important and prestigious nomination such as the one for World Design Capital or it is chosen as a venue for the World Fair, it has the chance to revise its image and redefine its look. This is the occasion to renovate its streets and squares, to invite international artists, designers, archistars and important guests and to arrange an agenda full of appealing exhibitions, congresses, workshops, talks, fairs and meetings. And Turin, World Design Capital 2008, is no exception to this rule.
This summer the city welcomes you with many surprises.

The Turin City Notebook, will be distributed at a special price together with La Stampa.

In order to help residents and tourists aware of the many events, to trace out a personal map of the city which highlights the hot spots and appointments, to collect and preserve memories and records, Moleskine has launched the Turin City Notebook which will be distributed at a special price together with La Stampa, Turin's  daily newspaper, until the end of August. Among the many appointments that you can write down in your City Notebook, one not to be missed is "Flexibility - design in a fast-changing society" which takes place in the Ex-Carceri "Le Nuove" and runs through until the 12th of October. The exhibition is a narrative and experiential path which explores the diverse ways of designing the world and society starting from a concept of adaptability, from the perspective of transforming town and city environments into more elastic places, durable but also welcoming and changeable spaces.
Another interesting exhibition you should not miss, is "The Pure Gift of Italian Design" - Compasso d'Oro Historical Collection, which will be on display in the recently restored Reggia di Venaria Reale for the whole summer; the Collection, that has grown over the years with the addition of a Prize and international juries, is an anthology in progress to the excellence of Italian design and products.

An Art work from the exhibition "Flexibility" Design in a fast-changing society.

"The Pure Gift of Italian Design" Compasso d'Oro Historical Collection.

If you're interested in design workshops, from the 13th of July for 14 days, 180 students and teachers from the best international design schools will have the opportunity to attend Designing Connected Places. They'll share their experiences and live together in the splendid Università di Scienze Gastronomiche of Pollenzo (Cuneo), the university founded by the international association Slow Food. This international summer school will feature 6 classes, each one dedicated to an in-depth study of a specific theme, a great challenge for the design of today: listening to local needs, understanding the requests for change that can be expressed through the institutions that govern the region, the companies that produce there, the communities that live there and the values that have accumulated over time.
But the city itself has put on loan its streets and squares, from the city centre to the suburbs, as settings for street art installations and temporary events and performances, or as open-air art galleries. So if you happen to pass by Piazza di Porta Palatina, one of the city's most well-known yet neglected squares, you can appreciate the restyling project by the Catalan landscape architect Beth Galí: she has used exclusively urban furniture elements to demonstrate the decisive importance of design to recover and improve city spaces and foster their use by the public. In Via Monferrato, 15 minutes walk from Piazza Castello, you can admire 15 banners created by the students of the graphics course at the Institute of Applied Arts and Design of Turin. The banners are truly "suspended works" which illustrate  the theme "Monferrato" in its various facets: wine, the hillsides, food and wine excellences, churches, etc. Each banner is 150 cm x 150 cm square and is printed on both the front and back so it can be enjoyed from both sides. And if you want to discover Turin's post-industrial face, or find your way through the "Olympic City" you can take note of one of the many itineraries, featured by Urban Centre Metropolitan. 

all pictures are © Torino World Design Capital 2008

July, 10th 2008